mini pupillage during pandemic

Has anyone applied or had a mini pupillage during covid-19? Was it online?

I'm struggling to find some

I applied to ALOT, got rejected by all of them but Keating, which I start in late April. It'll be online, and my first ever so I can't say how it'll go. Hope you find one too!

Has anyone applied or had a mini pupillage during covid-19? Was it online?

I'm struggling to find some

I just did a virtual mini-pupillage with 5 Essex Court which was really interesting - I'd highly recommend (obvs depending on what areas of law interest you). As far as I can tell, their next deadline for a mini is 31 March. Good luck with everything!

Has anyone applied or had a mini pupillage during covid-19? Was it online?

I'm struggling to find some

G'day - I've done c.12 virtual mini-pupillages during pandemic (whilst entirely neglecting my GDL), predominantly at commercial sets. Most seem to have functioned pretty well with the shift. I think everyone's keen to get back into the office, so I imagine many will be buzzing to return to in-person minis.

I'm more than happy to look at your Cover Letter (you can obviously anonymise etc if you'd like to) - I know the pain and I can provide you with my pretty effective method of churning them out.

Although I was successful in obtaining some virtual mini-pupillages, another option is to look out for Chambers open days - many were held in January. Chambers are understanding that this has been an unconventional year and many could not obtain mini pupillages, and even if you don't get any - explain you did try!
In your cover letter express - a) why do you want to be a barrister, what qualities and experiences do you have that support this? (e.g. mooting, debating) b) why are you interested in the area of law you're applying for? c) why this Chambers? (more than 'you practice in this area of law'). They want to know why a mini-pupillage is useful for you, and why you're more likely to find it useful than other applicants.

Hi, I did 1 virtual mini back in Feb and I have another lined up in June. I also have one mini which keeps on being put back because the Chambers wants to do it in person (I was offered in Feb 2020, currently scheduled for June 2021!). I think it really depends on the Chambers whether they have embraced going virtual or not. I would just have a quick half an hour checking on their websites because often they have the info on there.
I am quite lucky because I have gotten all minis I have applied to (3 out of 3). I applied to Family and Chancery/ Commercial sets if you are interested in these areas.

Nice, are you first year?

Thank you for the guidance! I just feel as though I'm waffling a bit too much but I'll keep looking over it

LLM graduate - It isn't the norm for mini-pupillages to be given out in first year for the more competitive sets. Might just be the case you will have better luck in second year and onwards!

Very impressive! Are you applying for pupillage any time soon?

That's true, but I'd like just 1 mini-pupillage, probably over summer would be amazing! Even if it's a relatively 'small' chambers, I'd feel very fortunate

Yes in the process of applying at the moment - happy to offer to have a glance over your application and see if I can offer any feedback? I've done 13 mini's so far, at a range of sets to work out exactly which area and type of chambers would suit me.

I got rejected for a mini-pupillage and I asked for feedback (which was very helpful) and they said the main issue was that I'm lacking legal experience, not necessarily just as a mini-pupil but I have not done formal writing or debating competitions either (for example). A bit disheartening, but I understand! Not sure how to find opportunities like those but I'll look

I sent you a pm with a little more detail, but for anyone who might come across this thread in future - please don't be disheartened by this! It is quite common for mini pupillages to be offered at later stages of your education and indeed some sets only offer minis to students in their penultimate and final years of study. In first year I would very much recommend focusing on your grades primarily (the techniques required for problem questions and legal essays might well be a large step away from what you are used to in higher education) and just getting used to your new lifestyle - not everything needs to be about law! Pursue those hobbies for example, they'll be great for your applications
Legal experience at these early stages might include simply sitting in on court sessions (lockdown permitting), attending virtual minis and networking events, getting involved with the university's law societies and debating societies etc. Small things - but useful! I'm not sure what they mean by formal writing, as this is a little hard to secure at undergrad - my first published work was only during my LLM for example.

Remember you only really need 2-3 minis and have years ahead to get them! Keep trying at something will work out I'm sure. This year is especially competitive as a result of last years interruptions and even with 4 years of study and extensive experience I have similarly been rejected from many

Would 100% second this. It's a little hard to generalise as e.g. criminal bar is a completely different job from high-end commercial bar, but I would say that almost without question the most important things you can do to maximise your chances of success at the Bar during your undergraduate is, in decreasing order of importance:

(a) Academic performance. There are real dumpster-fire 600 post threads on TSR about whether having a 2ii is "disqualifying" at the Bar (spoiler: it depends), but you are really behind the 8-ball if you do. Having a 2i is a big benefit to your CV, and having a first even more so. Chambers are often very sensitive to even small academic differentiations between candidates, so time spent on academic work is never time wasted. There are many more people (in general) who absolutely smashed their undergraduate degrees academically and did little legal-specific work and then came to the Bar on the back of academic strength than there are people who had much less good academics but had done a lot of minis.

(b) Mooting/debating. Even a little pays off, because it sets you apart from candidates who have none. Mooting is hard to get into as a non-law undergraduate, but debating is easy and almost every University has a team. If you stick at it, competitive debating is fantastically fun and makes you a better advocate and sharper thinker in a way almost no other activity does and serves you almost unthinkably well at interviews, because the identical skill of thinking on your feet or with limited preparation time about relevant topics is transferable. In the alternative, you could view it instrumentally: sign up, do a few debates, go to a couple of comps, get a good amount to put on your CV then flee.

(c) Law-related stuff. From one perspective, doing minis in first year is sub-optimal strategy because (a) you have less on your CV and are therefore more likely to be rejected, which inevitably demoralises a person and (b) has high opportunity cost relative to the above two opportunities.